The name Benson is from many sources. In the Anglo-Saxon variation, it possibly came from a shortened form of Benedict meaning blessed in Latin. In all over ten Coats of Arms were granted to Benson families. Many lineages of Benson came from Norse backgrounds which use patronyms (Benson, son of Ben, Williamson or Wilson, son of William, etc.) Actually, the parliament in Norway passed a family name act in 1923, citing the rising population and the new to avoid confusion of new last names in every generation.

This is the web site for the Benson Y chromosome DNA study. It is open to any male with the Benson, Binson, Bensen, Bentsen, Bentzin surname or variant spellings of that name. Why use DNA testing? If you are stuck at a brick wall with your research, DNA testing may match you to another family you can share research with to find your common ancestor. Finding your genetic match will help you to focus your research on families you have a connection to, instead of researching all the families with the same name in the same area. This should save you money on research materials. Reasons not to use DNA testing: If it would bother you to find out that you are not a genetic match to your family, don't do DNA testing. It is also recommended that you do not test several members of the same immediate family if finding out they do not match would cause you problems. Who should test? You should test your oldest living direct line ancestor in either your paternal (Y DNA) or maternal (mtDNA) lines. What tests should be used? The Y DNA test is for finding your paternal line ancestry. Only males can be tested since only males have a Y chromosome. The mtDNA test is for finding your maternal line ancestry. Both males and females can be tested since you get your mtDNA from your mother. Only females pass their mtDNA on to their children. If you imagine that you are at the top of a triangle, then your paternal line is the right side of the triangle, and your maternal line is the left side. All your other ancestral lines are between those and can be found by testing direct line descendants of your ancestors. There are other tests, the CODIS test used by the police, and X chromosome tests, but these are not yet appropriate for genealogy. They can help with siblingship or paternity questions.

The Benson Y-DNA surname study actively seeks participation from any interested Benson family members. If you are a female Benson, please consider recruiting your father, brother, uncle, or male cousin to join the study.

Through sponsorships, some funding for test kits may be available for selected Benson lines.

If you would like to sponsor a particular Benson line, or to make a contribution to the group fund to fund general Benson Y-DNA testing, please contact the administrator of this group

"Most Wanted" for the Y-DNA Study:

A Benson male with a paper trace from the Quaker Bensons of Uwchlan, PA circa 1750.Many of these moved to North Carolina and Indiana.Please contact us for full 37 marker testing.